We've been lied to – that was the verdict of councillors who described their reaction to a shocking Ofsted report into their children’s services.

They convened for an extraordinary meeting to discuss their response to the damning Ofsted investigation into the council’s Children’s Services.

They unanimously agreed to hold an independent review of what went wrong in the county’s services for vulnerable children.

The Liberal Democrats proposed that an independent review be held and also asked that the Improvement Board, set up to oversee improvements to children’s services should include cross party representation

Council leader Councillor Mark Hawthorne (C, Quedgeley) also proposed that there should be an independent review of support for whistle-blowers, and ensure that councillors be able to scrutinise exit.

Their proposals were agreed unanimously at an emotional meeting where councillors said they were shocked, angry and felt betrayed.

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"Concerns"

They described how they had been unaware of the problems in children’s services which were only revealed in the Ofsted report which described a culture of fear among vulnerable staff, bullying, delays and concerns about the “integrity” of management.

"Breakdown of trust"

“We have got to have that trust and we have got to be frank with each other.

“We were reviewed in 2011 with similar results to allow this to happen again is unforgivable whether that means looking at our senior management team . Nothing should be off the table and if that means getting rid of people then so be it.”